The #1 Factor That Determines How Long You’re Going to Live
The Model Health Show
Shawn Stevenson
4.8 • 7.2K Ratings
🗓️ 30 June 2025
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you want to live a long, healthy life, you don’t necessarily have to implement the latest biohacking trends to make a difference. In fact, research shows that the number one way to extend your lifespan actually has nothing to do with diets or supplements – it’s the quality of your relationships.
On this episode of The Model Health Show, you’re going to learn about why your relationships play such a powerful role in influencing your lifespan. You’ll hear the science behind why healthy, supportive relationships are necessary for human health, how to cultivate healthy relationships, and so much more.
You’re going to hear tangible takeaways to improve your relationships, from the importance of shared meals to how to incorporate social media in a healthy way. You’re going to learn why social isolation is detrimental to human health, how your relationships can help you better deal with stress, and the importance of intentionally investing in the people around you. I hope this episode resonates with you. Enjoy!
In this episode you’ll discover:
- The link between social isolation and risk for early death. (0:22)
- How loneliness can act as a form of chronic stress. (2:28)
- What the #1 contributor to living a longer lifespan is. (2:43)
- How healthy social bonds increase your healthspan. (3:24)
- The connection between having healthy relationships and stress resilience. (7:26)
- What percentage of doctor’s office visits are stress related. (8:40)
- The resources that relationships can provide. (12:42)
- Three specific ways relationships can help you metabolize stress. (14:06)
- The importance of having a strong sense of purpose. (23:11)
- Why social media is a supplement, not a substitute, for in-person interactions. (33:38)
- The powerful effects of sharing a meal with friends and family. (36:32)
- How many times per week to eat meals with your children. (43:30)
- Why getting out of your shell allows you to have richer experiences. (46:07)
- The power of human touch. (52:24)
- How to invest in your relationships. (52:57)
- Why you should make improving your relationships an intention. (53:34)
Items mentioned in this episode include:
- Levels.link/model - Join today and get 2 free months with a one-year membership!
- The #1 Controller of Human Longevity with Dr. Robert Waldinger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhXq7t7PCsc
- Avoid These Red Flags with Matthew Hussey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwthZIIT5Xk
- The TRUTH About Manifestation with Dr. James Doty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_oloBtF3fA&t=4s
- Make Love Last with Jay Shetty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnVfuigfqQo
- Weight Loss After 40 with Chalene Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMaC3nqEWQU
- The BEST Mindset for Amazing Relationships with Christine Hassler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VOpaJhfNRg
- The TRUTH About Building Healthy Relationships with Sheleana Aiyana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4m6VRDyBOI
Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes:
This episode of The Model Health Show is brought to you by Levels.
Learn how food affects your health with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) from Levels. Join today at levels.link/model and get 2 free months with a one-year membership!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are now listening to The Model Health Show with Sean Stevenson. |
| 0:04.8 | For more, visit themodelhealthshow.com. |
| 0:11.4 | It's not poor diet. It's not lack of exercise. It's not sleep deprivation. |
| 0:17.5 | The number one threat to our longevity is something far more insidious. |
| 0:22.6 | And it was the subject of one of the largest cohort studies ever conducted. |
| 0:27.8 | The study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior was a meta-analysis of 90 cohort studies |
| 0:34.6 | that examined the links between loneliness, social isolation, and early |
| 0:40.6 | death among more than 2 million adults. |
| 0:45.5 | Study participants were followed for anywhere from six months to 25 years, and here's what |
| 0:51.7 | they found. |
| 0:53.7 | Adults who frequently felt lonely were 14% more likely to die |
| 0:59.0 | early than those who did not and people who experienced social isolation had a 32% higher risk of |
| 1:07.9 | dying early from any and every cause compared with those who weren't socially |
| 1:14.7 | isolated. This should get your spidey senses tingling in a major way. Now we're going to deconstruct |
| 1:22.2 | all of this, but it's important to understand a couple of things right off the bat. Loneliness |
| 1:26.6 | and social isolation are actually two different things. |
| 1:31.1 | Some people know what it's like to feel lonely even if they're around other people. |
| 1:37.6 | But something to take away from that is that just the act of being around other people, |
| 1:43.5 | even if we feel lonely, is protective for our health. |
| 1:48.1 | That's why social isolation was more than twice as likely to kill someone prematurely than being |
| 1:56.3 | lonely. There's something really special about being around other human beings. |
| 2:03.9 | And it's something that cannot be bottled up into any kind of drug or supplement or biohack. |
... |
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